What happened to his music? Quincy Jones no longer writes it, and Jacko was left behind in the 80s. The model for most dance music has switched to hip hop which requires much more testosterone and skills Jacko just doesn't have. What happened? The world moved on.

I think this was a good jury. They gave the defendant the benefit of the doubt, as they should have, and I'm sure they saw through the prosecutorial over-reaching and the unfairness of some of the Court's rulings.

But he is one sick weirdo. He will not change. The only cure for pedophiles is 50 cc's of sodium thiopental, 50 cc's of Pavulon, and 50 cc's of potassium chloride (20% solution)administered seriatim intravenously at no more than one minute intervals between injections. Otherwise, he will continue exactly in the same pattern until he is stopped.

If I could have had an interest in this case, I could have as easily had a fetish for the tiny feet of Ruth you-know-who. God! Those old fashioned button-ups would look good if I could grovel and grimace in front of that bench!

I would rather have a foot fetish over the tiny feet of Ruth you-know-who than to take an interest in this case. God! Those old fashioned button-ups would look good if I could grovel and grimace in front of that bench!

I wouldn't call it a utter humiliation. Rather, I would call it million dollar justice.

The reality seems to be that in a lot of criminal trials, at least when it is not the DOJ, when the defense can "deep pocket" the prosecution, they will often win, but when the tables are turned, as they usually are, the prosecution wins.

We possibly saw this with OJ, probably with (Dr.) Wm. Kennedy Smith, and probably now with Michael Jackson. Small goofs by the prosecution that would normally not hurt are caught, and they have a lot more money for investigations, etc.

Life is not always fair, and, IMHO, one of the unfairest is that of the criminal justice system.

Back to my original comment - the fact that the jury had to deliberate as long as they did is probably some indication that some jurors had to be convinced, and, thus, that it was not slam dunk in Wacko Jacko's favor.

Interesting to me, this is one place where British English differs a bit from U.S. English. I believe that they often spell it paedophilia. Silly Britts, esp. when the temptation is to turn the "ae" into an "i"

L.A. Channel 7 went into a barber shop in "South L.A." (really South-Central, but that has lost its zing and been replaced to rehab the area) and asked about the verdict.

2 guys answered and neither were behind him. The gist at the barber shop was he probably did it, but was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

One guy said "he used to be Black" (snickers in the background) and the other made a crack about Jackson wetting in his diapers... Those guys were just like the movie (Cedric et al. had the atmosphere down perfect) and the Euros in Santa Maria were vastly more pro-Michael than African-American Los Angeles judging by the media coverage.

Well, a combination of a high priced, aggressive defense helped Jacko get away with being a pedophile predator. Of course, that fact that the mom of the victim was a gold digger, who had attemped to bilk other celebrities, did not do much to the Prosecution's case. The defense then was able to introduce reasonable doubt in the jury. I wonder if they had not applied the Conspiracy charges, which might have kept the victim's scheming mom off the stand might have helped.Now, about the hundreds of die hard Jacko supporters, well, seems they are even weirder than Star Trek and Star Wars nerds!!!!

Actually, it will be quite easy for him to continue as a predator. He is rich and famous and there are plenty of sick parents who will bring their children to him. Many of who (whom?) were in the cheering crowd, no doubt.

Ann Althouse said... Jimbo: Everyone is on notice and he's easily recognizable. It will be hard for him to continue as a predator, if that's what he was.

True. But he was also easily recognizable after the 1993 accusations. Every parent in the screaming hoards outside the courthouse would love to have their childrent share the glory of Michael Jackson's bedroom. This trial won't change a bit of his odd (understatement) or possibly criminal actions.

The fact is, the prosecutor overcharged Jackson. Half the counts should never have been brought. I've heard the jury instructions were almost 100 pages long. You'll lose them at that length. Eliminating the weak charges would have made things easier on the jury and eliminated the worst witnesses (such as the mother). I knew as soon as Sneddon decided to personally try the case that the whole prosecution was doomed (doomed!).

My thought is that the jury took so long because they desparately wanted to convict Jackson of something, but took their role seriously enough to admit that the prosecution failed to prove their case.

Michael Jackson will never ever stop what he does with adolescent boys. He is a sex offender and prefers adolescent boys.

Sex offenders are unable to stop themselves because their behavior is a compulsion and their compulsion drives them to seek sexual pleasure with adolescent boys. The compulsion was started and is driven by their own abuse.

While some sex offenders stop themselves for periods of time, due to lack of access to the object of their obcession or fear of being 'found out.' However, when the urge builds and it will, they will offend again.

What Michael Jackson has learned through this experience is how to be more devious about luring and continuing what he has done for at least 15 years, molest adolescent boys.

Unless and until society becomes educated on the standard definition of sexual child abuse and the modus operendi of the sex offender, they will continue to abuse children under our noses.www.gen-assist.com/book.asp

An interesting sidelight of this trial (as well as the recent Catholic priest scandals) is the drifting definition of pedophilia. In many primitive societies it was not uncommon for girls to become pregnant at 10. Most Biblical commentary puts Mary's age at Jesus' birth between 12 and 16, which makes God Himself a pedophile by today's standards. There may be good sociological reasons for raising the age of consent into the late teens, but doing so makes it more difficult to stigmatize pedophilia as abnormal.